Your Job Dissatisfaction Level is 35%

Your job is not bad, but it’s probably not a long term thing.You’re just not happy enough to stick around for too long… And there’s little that can change how you feel. Start looking around for other options, but only quit for something really good!

Should You Quit Your Job?

If Agenda for Change meant that all NHS staff (except Doctors, Dentists and Directors) were placed on the same pay system how can the BBC report that nurses are to receive a bigger increase that other NHS staff? Or is the award for all people on Agenda for Change and just not properly reported?

Thirteen Things about my Week Not sure why and no it is not PMT but I have been getting angry and upset by things that are really not worth it (see previous post). This has not just been a blogging thing though as last night I had a major go at hubby for going through my bag to help me find my university card, I have nothing to hide and am not sure it was worth me yelling at him. I have been suffering from hayfever this week, I am allergic to spring (well tree pollen and oil seed rape which thankfully isn’t around yet), I have bought some tablets are much nagging by hubby about my sneezing habits. Tomorrow is my final study day before my assignment needs to be handed in (this will be in May), luckily my life is now dominated by change management and the essay is about…… Teen son has caused some irritation, first he left his mobile phone in a train carriage on Saturday and then yesterday delayed me as he couldn’t organise himself enough to remember his school bag when I gave him a lift to his friends house for the great ‘walk’ to school. There seems to be problems with the drains in our new office, a man from the estates department has been twice in the time I have been there (about a month) to unblock the toilets. We are in the process of organising our education and training programme for the new financial year. For the first time we have really got the mandatory thing sorted (hopefully) and I just hope that managers will continue to release people for training (apparently the latest NHS survey shows a reduction in uptake for training). I discovered yesterday that the head of HR doesn’t do her appraisals properly (surprise surprise), when I took possession of the staff file of someone I have inherited from HR. I successfully used a computer in the PCT head office yesterday without losing my emails (see a recent thursday 13). I held the third session of my new action learning set this week, one member has left the PCT (nothing to do with me, so she said) and 2 new people have joined. Hopefully we can now get going. Hubby is buying a new car about 5 days after the insurance policy on his old car runs out, he has left me to sort this complex situation out for him, including changing insurance company. I have my brother coming over for dinner tonight, wonder what to cook? Today is payday, we are meant to be getting our backdated pay from agenda for change, sadly at the moment that is about £20 per year for me! roll on my appeal. Links to other Thursday Thirteens! Trying out the linky thing today! But please leave a comment too!

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!

The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

View More Thursday Thirteen Participants

Dr Crippen of NHS Blog Doctor slags off nurses and moreover specialist nurses again! Actually I agree with some of his sentiments, there does seem to be a lack of nurses who are prepared to do basic nursing care in a basically caring way and there does seem to be rather a lot of nurses who fancy being specialist nurses. I wonder why this might be?

What is the average age of a nurse? At the last reckoning, pretty much over 40 if not over 50, what kind of work would you like to do when over 50? How much do you want to be paid by the time you have given 30 years service? What do you do when you have your diploma and degree in nursing and have spent many years fighting the system, working out that actually you have the skills to do more than wipe the backside of the average patient. Why you decide to get yourself a job where you can have your hard work recognised, where patient’s appreciate you and where the doctors you actually work with respect your knowledge and skills. The down side is that other doctors find you threatening, they think you are getting above your station and what’s more you are too specialised.

A nurse in the UK in 2006 should earn no more than £20,000 per year, she (and of course it is a she) spends her day running around a nightingale ward from patient to patient, she refers and defers to her superior matron at all times and only matron communicates with the great doctor before telling our cowering nurse what to do next.

There are some very poor nurses around, I have met some of them, there are some poor ’specialist nurses’ who really shouldn’t be allowed near a patient. But there are equally some extremely poor doctors too, they are not all thorough in their assessment of patients, they are not all accurate in their diagnoses, they are not all blessed with excellent interpersonal skills. Sadly I have worked with some of them.

The good news though is that Arsenal have beaten Juventus and for that I am extremely pleased this Tuesday night!
Nursing

When it comes to communication skills, a lot of NHS managers seem to be under the impression that they are pretty good with their teams and services. They give out plenty of information, even if they are not sure they are giving the right information, and they make sure they are involving people with the things are going on. The trouble is, that there seems to be relatively little listening going on, and very little checking out that the message they think they are delivering is getting through in an effective way.

Yesterday we held the first of a series of change management / coping with change sessions (one for managers and team leaders and the other for team members) and for me the messages are stark. I would go as far as to say that I am horrified with some of the things my fellow managers are doing in terms of communicating the changes to their staff. It seems ok to send a director to talk to a team of health visitors and for the person concerned not to introduce themselves and not to adapt their talk to make it relevant (of course the health visitors could have been brave and asked who the hell she was, but I can understand why they might not have). It seems ok for a team to find out who their employers will be and where their base will change to 3 days before it is due to happen. It is ok for staff to launch a new service, which thankfully they are committed to doing, but without having any say in the way it is done.

It seems as though in all of the big redesign work going on in our PCT, no one considers that the people out there actually delivering the care to patients actually have anything to offer in terms of knowledge about how the service should look or function. There is an assumption that they will just get on with the work, and while they do it they can just find out that they are to be based in a new office some time this week or next. People need to be treated with more respect than this.

Having said all of the above, actually this is just the kind of work I really enjoy, because actually I can make sure people know what is going on. I left bedside nursing because I felt unable to make enough of a difference to the way things get done. Hopefully now though I can get people to listen and I can make a difference to the way people are treated and what’s more that can only have a positive effect on what is happening out their in practice.

The last week of the financial year and my budget is looking like a real budget, and hopefully it isn’t over spent nor will it be significantly underspent. I seem to have managed to provide an education service which reasonably met the needs of our staff and within budget. Shame it has happened more by luck than judgment or perhaps I am actually psychic and don’t know it!

Communication NHS

Mother’s day is a day that involves the mother of the family lounging around, while her children prepare food and her husband plies her with wine. Well that is how mothers day seems to have been for my mum, and yesterday was no exception. I guess that my main mistakes have been firstly to have only one child and secondly to have only a son. Still I have acquired a very nice perennial type plant to put into my newly cleared front garden (though I need to go and buy several more to stop it looking too lonely), when it is planted I will post a picture here so that teen son knows how much I appreciate my gift (and I do actually).

So yesterday I cooked lunch for 9 members of my family, then we all headed off to Roller City for my niece’s birthday party. Her parents had booked the whole place for 2 hours, and invited her whole class of 8 year olds, and a few of her brother’s 12 year old friends, many arrived with their parents, so the place was pretty busy. I decided that I should join in, but soon came to regret this decision and have the bruises to prove it. There were many minor injuries, and I realised why I never encouraged such dangerous parties for teen son when he was young enough for such things. The main casualty though was my other niece who is 13 today and celebrated it in her local accident and emergency department being xrayed for a fractured humerus!

Teen son announced last night that he is to tone up his apparently long but puny body, this will involve regular (daily perhaps) circuit exercises he has got off the internet (they are always saying that the internet is a dangerous place for the young!) and a healthy diet. I have spent a lot of time trying to encourage healthy eating and suddenly he is going to eat more fruit and less fat of his own free will! A friend asked if a girl is on the scene; well I haven’t noticed one, but I guess it is only a matter of time! The up side could be that she might cook me food on mothers day!

I am writing this as a delaying tactic for the fact I can’t get my posterior into gear this morning. Hubby is at work and teen son still at his friends having had a ’sleep over’ last night, the inverted commas are because I wonder just how much sleep took place and what state he will be in when he gets home. I have now had morning coffee in bed, breakfast in bed and now am blogging to the Commonwealth Games in bed. After this I promise to get dressed and clean the house!

Yesterday I had a pretty productive day, I was in the supermarket at 8.15, though I struggled at that hour to know what I actually needed and will need to return tomorrow for extra supplies (I have my parents and brother and his family coming over for lunch). I have read several articles on change management, leadership and other related topics ready for my essay, and am pretty much ready to get going on this. Perhaps if I race round with the dyson and duster I will have time to at least get on with a proper plan before hubby gets in or teen son rings to be collected. After lunch I went out into my newly cleared front garden and dig some digging, now I am in need of plants to fill the spaces created by the tree felling.

This afternoon we are off to London, we are planning a stroll around Harrods looking at things we might buy if our lottery numbers come up. If the sunny weather keeps up we might even have a walk through hyde park. Teen son and his friend are coming with us, but are being permitted to go off on their own for a few hours. Hubby asked me why I asked him if he wanted to do this rather than stay home, and it is for selfish reasons; I need to be in London when he is wandering around with his mate before he asks me if he can go on their own by train. In fact next Saturday Matt and Jordan (he is a boy by the way) are off on their own to Highbury to see Arsenal play.

So enough procrastination, I must get up and on with the day!

In today’s Guardian there is yet another headline about NHS job losses, as they say 4000 have been announced in the last 2 weeks, and there are now predictions of 15000 in total over the next few years. Some of this will be about jobs moving from one area to another, for example jobs which are currently part of the acute sector becoming part primary or intermediate care. Secondly these are posts rather than actual people, as many trusts are now running with high vacancy rates due to the inability to recruit and more recently vacancy freezes. Many jobs have been created since Labour came to power in 1997, to a great extent with the purpose of servicing the centralised targets we have been set. It has been about quantity rather than quality: lets make sure we see patients within a given time, lets make sure no one waits longer than x months for an appointment, lets make sure that x number of people stop smoking. In the process of doing that thousands of staff have been recruited some of them health professionals, some admin staff and some managers.

At the same time organisations have undergone reorganisation, the two PCTs I work for started as part of a community trust, and then split into 4 PCTs, 1 CEO, Finance Director, Director of nursing etc became 4 and each of them and their other fellow directors needed their own teams, no wonder so many jobs were created as a result.

As regular readers will know, I began my career as a nurse. I have carried out various nursing roles during the 26 years since I began as a student nurse, but for the first time I am not sure what my next move might be, and what’s more I don’t know if there would be a job for me if I were to want one. In our area there is to be a vacancy pool, so that people who find their jobs at risk, or who are made redundant can begin to look for a new one. What jobs will be in this pool? Will this offer an opportunity, because demand will exceed supply, for employers to actually cut pay? Will someone like me who has been working in a management role for the last 4 years, actually be able to go back to clinical work if we want to, and if we do, what kind of job will be available to us? It may be that my job is actually safe, after all it would be nice to think that the education department of any organisation should be felt to be too important to be made redundant, but actually I wouldn’t be quite so sure. The other thing of course is, that I might actually want to do something else, I might want to use my increased knowledge and hopefully skills in a new area, but I wonder what there will be left for me to do?

You Are Marge Simpson

You’re a devoted family member who loves unconditionally.Sometimes, though, you dream about living a wild secret life! You will be remembered for: your good cooking and evading the police Your life philosophy: “You should listen to your heart, and not the voices in your head.”

The Simpsons Personality Test

Thirteen Things about Julie’s week Finally managed to get the horrible trees at the front and side of my house chopped down on Saturday. I have a lot of work to do now to make it look less bare, shrubs and plants, but no trees! Went to visit hubby’s 94 year old Granny on Sunday, she was on excellent form and really excited to see her sister who we took for the visit. It is also good to know there are some good care homes with excellent caring people looking after the elderly. There have been 4 live football matches on since Monday, now that really is overkill! Thank goodness for Grease on Tuesday night! My emails have been returned to my inbox; I know that a number of people felt my pain on this topic last week! I have had one to ones with 3 of my staff this week, which of course take up time but are really worth while. A few appraisals coming up next month, so preparation to do for them. Thankfully the number of meetings I have to attend seems to have dropped to a much more manageable level, and all the meetings I do attend seem to be reasonably worthwhile. Unlike my last manager, this one doesn’t insist on us doubling up at everything which is a big relief. The consultation on the reconfiguration of the PCTs closed yesterday, we should know in May what that will look like. Could be 1 PCT in the whole county could be 2. After that the process of discovering which jobs are likely to be at risk will begin. Money will be very tight again during next financial year, no surprise there then. Any savings goes to bale out the acute trust! I have spent the most thrilling day today pouring over the training needs each department has sent in. So few surprises that I could have pretty much written it without consulting with them. Either that or I am a major fountain of knowledge! Tomorrow I am using up one of my last 3 annual leave days, I also have next Thursday and the following Monday off. Friday next week is a study day. Tomorrow I need to get my essay planned out properly as I have to submit the plan to the group by email on Monday for discussion on Friday. It looks like the cold weather might be ending - we will be in double figures (centigrade) tomorrow - yipee! The fixed rate period on our mortgage ends next month, so we have to put up with a hike in payments, that’s the great news I came home to today. Links to other Thursday Thirteens! 1. Mama Kelly

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!

The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

View More Thursday Thirteen Participants

10 days to the end of the financial year, and another finance person to consult with. Some how the fact their department have failed to do what they are paid to do is my fault. I wasn’’t tough enough with the management accountant! Well in hindsight maybe that is true. Back to the office after that meeting and it seems that someone from the Financial Services Agency has told one of our training providers that she won’’t be paid just yet because the NHS is in difficulty and hasn’’t she seen the news. I guess if you provide a service to the NHS you shouldn’’t expect to be able to pay your own mortgage! Mind you I guess it has got to the stage of her bill or my salary for March, and I have my own mortgage to pay!

A bit of light relief last night – Grease is the word! We went out for a meal and Grease tribute act show for my niece’s 8th birthday. Laura loves the film, and the songs, and gets us singing to her karaoke DVD whenever we are visiting. She is always Sandy of course, which leaves anyone else to be Danny! The singers were pretty good entertainment, I got the chance to dance to add a few steps to my daily count and had some good Italian food too (mindful of my diet of course). Tonight it is back to an evening of football as Chelsea play Newcastle in the FA cup. Lets hope for a Chelsea win so that my evening is a relatively quiet one.

The financial year ends in just under 2 weeks, and that means (even this year) getting invoices in and sent off for payment and spending our last bit of petty cash. Our budget, which mainly comes through education allocations from the Department of Health through the Strategic Health Authority, must be spent wisely or returned and lets face it we went through enough hoops to find our how much we were getting, and then got most of what we were promised, so I’m not sending it back in a hurry. This year though I am in the middle of a guessing game. I don’t like to accuse people of incompetence, and I do know how busy and stressed the finance people are but surely it must be possible to be given an accurate budget statement before year end? They are the only department to be allowed to recruit staff and still I have the impression of unconscious incompetence about many of them.

At the same time we are preparing for the new financial year, a year of promise? Well I doubt it promises anything too wonderful, but we must keep our stiff upper lip we must keep our chins up and we must be positive. I am in the process of compiling the training needs analysis (sounds grand I know) for the organisation and we are also starting to plan our training programme for the coming year. It will pretty much feature mandatory and statutory training, core skills training, stuff on change, management and leadership and little else. With no end in sight to the overall financial crisis (did I say that?) we are in, people will not be able to be released from work on a whim, but there are such fundamental changes happening to some services that there are a lot of training needs and so released they must be. For the first time we are going to be able to do something I have been aiming for since I started this job and that is to have half and whole days of mandatory training so people only need releasing once rather than for an hour here and there. It is taking a lot of organising, but now the team is functioning so much more efficiently we are in a position to do this, and it is what people want.

Next week sees the start of spring, and next weekend the start of British Summer time, I wish someone would tell the weather that it is time to warm up please! I am fed up of wearing winter clothes and a thick coat, I need warmer spring like weather please!

Thirteen recent observations / discoveries It is quite possible for a 15 year old boy to come home from school covered with mud after playing football at lunch time. You can buy the seats from highbury (We have bought one for teen son, it will apparently be delivered in August), his dad is apparently going to connect it to the wall in his room. Lets hope it is more successful than some other DIY efforts. March can be a very cold month and spring can apparently appear to be suspended. The journey to work can be reasonably good even during term time, hope I haven’t jinxed my journey tomorrow! It is quite handy to employ an ex-landscape gardener, especially when he is going to bring his chainsaw and a mate to remove some very unsightly trees from your garden at the weekend. It is good when your administrator arrives back from her holiday in Australia, refreshed, cheerful and ready to get back to work (well seemed it). Cold sores are really painful - just had one for the first time in about 10 years. Using a computer in another office could result in your inbox being emptied, as I discovered mine had this morning; very annoying. It is possible to have successful 1 to 1’s with staff members on 2 consecutive days, even with people who you had previously had problems with. When you arrive to a finance meeting to find the accountant off sick it is very annoying, however the blessing might be to find someone more efficient to sort the problems out (ask me after Tuesday if the other person is actually efficient). It is possible to put up your step count by going for a lunchtime walk, dancing to top of the pops and jumping up and down while cooking dinner. My GP still thinks I work at the hospital and can arrange dermatology referrals for my own son! Some new nursing / medical blogs through Grand Rounds (see links at the side, here, here and here. Links to other Thursday Thirteens! (leave your link in comments, I’’ll add you here!) killired Gone to Plaid Mamassage

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!

The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

View More Thursday Thirteen Participants

I guess I shouldn’t be disappointed, though was considering a career as a medium before I did this test, looks like I shouldn’t bother!

When you do a job as sedetary as mine. This is something that has become apparent in the last couple of days. When I was a young nurse, in her 20’s working on a medical ward (which happened to have a small coronary care unit), I must have walked miles every day. Up and down the ward, around the beds, up and down the stairs (lifts were for patients and visitors), over to the ward opposite to borrow stuff, to other wards to accompany patients. I was slim, though never realised that I was.

In 1987 I moved to the community, I started to walk a lot less, the only stairs were those in people’s houses, or in small blocks of flats which we have quite a few of in our town. I got in an out of the car, walked across car parks but as in those days we still did plenty of manual work (lifting, moving, bending, stretching) I kept fit, and I kept pretty slim. In 1994 (having had a baby, got fat during pregnancy and lost it) I moved back to an acute hospital. I walked much more, though not often up to my 10th floor office (walked down though), I didn’t do much of the manual work though and I was happy, contented and sadly fatter.

So I guess it should come as no surprise to find that in moving to an office job, it has become more difficult to stay any way near slim (of course I am also older). It was quite a shock though to realise that I struggled to walk 1000 steps by lunchtime (and 400 of those were before 8am when I got in my car. Therefore I took 20 minutes out of my day and went for a walk, actually it was great to get a breather, even if it was very cold today. When I got home, it was getting dark so I have danced and exercised around the house, and got up to 9000 steps by now (10.20pm). But having to think about this is a good thing, I need to be creative about how I do this, how I get fitter. I know I’ll never be that young nurse running up and down those stairs, but I’ll have a go at getting back into shape.

Tomorrow I am at the other office, meetings and more meetings, but there are stairs involved which is good. I hope the finance person is a bit more on the ball for our meeting than when we last got together, after all the financial year is nearly over and it would be good to see a proper budget statement before 31st March!